Attendance policy
When an appointment is reserved with our clinicians it is important to understand that the time has been set aside. If patients fail to attend or cancel at short notice, valuable surgery time is lost, and costs are incurred by the practice.
Patients who are unable to make their appointment because of illness should, where possible, contact the practice as soon as they are aware that they cannot attend.
If you are unsure whether you can make it to an appointment, please contact us early to discuss the matter rather than leaving it to the last minute.
We ask that at least 24 hours notice is given to cancel an appointment. Failing to notify us before the appointment time will result in a failure to attend charge being made.
We understand that scenarios do occur and discretion will be used.
PRIVATE APPOINTMENTS
If a private patient fails to arrive for their dental appointments, a missed appointment fee will be placed on their account.
The failed fees are charged at approximately £1 per minute of the missed appointment.
If multiple appointments have been missed the clinician may refuse any future appointments.
If late cancelling with less than 24 hours’ notice this may incur a late cancellation charge of between £30.00 -£90.00 depending on the appointment length.
The balance must be paid prior to any future bookings.
NHS APPOINTMENTS
Although missed NHS appointments cannot be charged for, we have a very firm policy regarding non-attendance.
Patients who fail to attend one or more NHS dental appointments are unlikely to be offered any further appointments in line with NHS regulations (missed appointments do not have to be consecutive).
Your dentist can terminate your treatment if you miss your appointment without letting the dental surgery know. You may then need to pay again for a new course of treatment. NHS England has the right to ask you to find another dental surgery if you continue to miss appointments.
If you miss an NHS appointment and do not attend again within 24 months, we may not be able to see you again.
We may be able to place your name on our NHS waiting list to contact you when a place becomes available.
TEXT & TELEPHONE REMINDERS
Please note that, although we normally send email and/or text message reminders prior to appointments, the successful delivery of these relies on our text provider, your mobile network provider and your phone and cannot therefore be guaranteed. Therefore, you should not rely on our emails or text messages as the sole reminder of your appointment.
We will not be responsible for any appointments missed because of non- delivery of these text message reminders, regardless of the reasons for its failure
Contact
To contact us give us a call on 02392 816117 or send us a message using the form below.